>> thank you for that. >> always makes me sad. i learned actually that i'm halfway there, willie, to looking great. 50% vanity and 50% discipline. >> i guess you could look at it that way. >> which half do you have? >> way too early. "morning joe." stick around for "the daily rundown" with chuck. well, chris christie had his best chance yet to settle the speculation on whether he's going to run for president. but at last night's reagan library speech, he just fanned the flames. he never said no. the latest reporting on what he's really thinking. plus, for the next couple of weeks the uncertainty over christie is going to have an impact on how rick perry and mitt romney are able to raise money, grow their own support. both campaigns join us this morning to react. also, the u.n. takes up the palestinian bid for statehood. israel announces plans to expand west bank settlements. how likely are peace talks now? it's wednesday, september 28th,

2011. this is "the daily rundown." i'm chuck todd. let's get right to my "first reads" of the morning. the normally straight-shooting new jersey governor was anything but last night. with speculation about his 2012 plans at a near frenzy, he hemmed, hawed, and left the door wide open. didn't take long for the subject to come up. >> governor christie, you're known as a straight shooter, one not in for playing games. can you tell us what's going on here? are you reconsidering or are you standing firm? [ applause ] >> you folks are an incredible disappointment as an audience. the fact that that took to the second question. >> christie then got cute with his latest attempt to deny interest in running. here's how he first put it. >> they put a minute and 53 seconds of my answers strung

back-to-back-to-back to back together on the question of running for the presidency. everyone go to politico.com. it's right on the front page. i'm not going to bore you with it now. click on it. those are the answers. >> well, here's the montage that he was referencing, and of course that isn't subtle. >> no way. no. not going to happen. i'm not running. i'm 100% certain i'm not going to run. apparently i actually am not going to run.

>> it's such a burden. if you could please just stop. i mean, what kind of crazy egomaniac would you have to be to say please stop. it's extraordinarily flattering but by the same token that heartfelt message you gave me is also not a reason for me to do it. that reason has to reside inside me. and so that's what i've said all along. my answer to you is just this -- i thank you for what you're saying, and i take it in and i'm listening to every word of it and feeling it, too. >> i'm listening to every word of it. here's what i can tell you those

close to christie say that that's what is going on right now. he is listening. he is not saying definitely no right now. but the time line is going to be fast. as you know, in a couple of days, all the states, parties, primaries, and caucuses, they have to report in to the rnc exactly when their primary dates are going to be, when their filing deadlines are going to be. their first ones are going to come in mid to late october. what that's your time line. we'll know in the next 10 to 12 days when will chris christie fully change his mind but the door is open a crack. christie's nonannouncement came after a speech on leadership that certainly sounded like he was presenting a case for the presidency. the speech really was a rorschach the test with a little something for everyone. if you were a tea party conservative, this idea fired you up. >> the biggest challenge we must meet is the one we present to ourselves. to not become a nation that places entitlement ahead of

accomplishment, to not become a country that places comfortable lies ahead of difficult truths, to not become a people that thinks so little of ourselves that we demand no sacrifice from each other. we are a better people than that, and we must demand a better nation than that. >> independents listening might have had this appeal about broken washington and how to fix problems. each and every time he let an act pass him by, his failure is our failure, too. the failure to stand up for the bipartisan debt solutions of the simpson bowles commission, a report the president asked for himself. the failure to act on the country's crushing unemployment, the failure to act on ever expanding and rapidly eroding entitlement programs. the failure to discern pork barrel spending from real infrastructure investment. >> and some democrats, they might have heard this, cristy

praising the other party's leadership in trenton, but then also using the "contraction" word. >> in new jersey, we've done this with the legislative branch held by the opposite party because it's led by two people who have more often put the interests of our state above the partisan politics of their caucuses. and that's why i call them my friends. >> what's going to happen in the next couple weeks will be interesting to watch on the rest of the campaign front. will we suddenly see the other campaigns trying to force christie to remind people that maybe he has some positions that won't go over well with a conservative primary electorate? will you start seeing that drip and drab come out as a way to try to spook him out of the race? it's a dangerous game, a little bit of a high-wire act. you also done want to alienate chris christie at this point. he clearly has a popular following inside the party. it will be interesting to watch to see if chris christie starts

trying to defend some of his positions even more. you know, last night he went after rick perry on immigration. we'll get to that later. anyway, the news that christie is reconsidering couldn't come at a worse time for the current republican front-runners. it freezes the field in the final days of the third quarter just as rick perry and mitt romney are trying to get republican donors to get off the fence and cut some checks. perry tried to win over k street with a big fund-raiser last night. romney follows a string of new york fund-raisers and new hampshire town hall fund-raiser in massachusetts today. the fact of the matter is you'll have these donors be able to sit there and say i'm going to wait, no reason to rush now in their minds because they have the excuse of chris christie opening the door a little bit and potentially deciding that he might change his mind and get in. all right. back from the west coast, president obama heads to a local d.c. high school this afternoon to deliver his back-to-school address. it's a brief break from the campaign trail. his top strategist says there's a ton of work ahead.

here's what he said. >> we don't have the wind at our backs in this election. we have the wind in our face because the american people have the wind in their faces. and so this is going to be a titanic struggle. but i firmly believe we're on the right side of the struggle. >> nbc's mike viquiera is live for us at the white house. mike, we've been hearing about something else. first i want to talk about david axelrod's comments, titanic struggle might be an understatement when you look at some of these poll numbers. >> reporter: well, it has the virtue of being honest, put it that way, and the virtue of necessity. they're trying to fir up the base. that's what the president has been doing ever since he gave that jobs speech to congress. when you tell the base that they are in for a struggle, it's a political call to arms and that certainly serves their political purposes at the white house as well. about 12 hours ago the president alit on the south lawn of the white house aboard marine one. three days, five cities, three

fund-raisers, those marines who fly marine one, laden down with the $4 million he raised on that trip, unclear whether that was actually on board. good news from the white house today from an unlikely source. our friends at bloomberg surveyed 34 economists. it sort of flies in the face of what we've been hearing from the republican op is situation. they surveyed them about the president's jobs plan. here's the consensus. the average said it would result in the course over 2012 in a 0.6% gdp growth, add or keep 275,000 job, the unemployment rate as a result consensus would tick down 0.2%. all of that is very marginal, chuck, but as the saying goes it's certainly better than nothing. the problem the president faces even in his own party, harry reid isn't bringing up the bill next week when they come back, the senate and house still patting themselves on the back over averring a government shutdown on friday. they're on reses, come back next

week. the president's bill won't see the light of day. a lot of it is theoretical. >> it seems to be this republican talking point where they say we don't want shor term fixes. >> reporter: right. >> you say, wait a minute, shouldn't we have some fix? >> reporter: when you consider the payroll tax cut in effect that expires at the end of the year was something that was agreed to with mitch mcconnell, you remember last december when we were averting yet another government shutdown, economists across the board say, look, you can't pull the rug out from consumers now and raise their taxes at the end of this year. obviously, the president has more to it than that. he's got a payroll tax cut for employers as well as employee, and of course the republican argument is these are all temporary. we're looking for something much broader, a complete overhaul of the tax code. >> i could have sworn three months ago their favorite talking point was you don't raise taxes in the middle of a recession. getting rid of not extending

this payroll tax cut would do potentially just that. >> reporter: yeah. >> mike viquiera, see you in a few hours. the palestinians request to have their own state recognized will be brought to the u.n. security council today. adding to tensions in the reason, israel has approved plans for new settlements around east jerusalem. a move condemned by the flippians and described as counterproductive by secretary of state hillary clinton. >> we have long urged both sides to avoid any kind of action which could undermine trust, including and perhaps most particularly in jerusalem. >> nbc's john ray is live in tel aviv. john, it seems as if -- and tom friedman this morning in "the new york times" i think put it best. he said we're at the beginning apparently of peace process, and that's being kind. >> yeah. we're back to square zero, chuck, i think.

the intense diplomacy that took place in new york last week at the u.n. has not brought the two sides any closer together. in fact, it's probably driven them wider apart. we have a position at the moment where the court s have power, te u.s., the u.n. and russia are trying to force the pace on negotiations, trying to replace a process with substance, saying, look, we have to get around the table with a month, go to get a deal done in a year. but if you talk to either side at moment, the israelis or the palestinians, you lael really do not see the scope for any kind of agreement, any kind of common ground between the two sides. >> and, john, is there any resistance inside the knesset, inside the coalition government of benjamin netanyahu on doing these new settlements? >> there will be the usual is suspects, but netanyahu has returned from new york from the u.n. with his tail up, he's

boosted his popularity amongst israelis. the poll seems to say he's getting more popular. he's got a wind in his sail thanks to obama's most pro-israel speech today to date. on the palestinian side, they meet tomorrow to decide what their next step is. i'm afraid it will be a rather depressing restatement of their long-held position, which is that israel has to freeze those settlements for talks to begin. and i don't think there is any suggestion from netanyahu, the prime minister's office, or anybody serious here connected to power that the israelis are in the business of even considering that. >> and, john, very quickly, speaking of polls and popularity, president obama, his highest popularity ratings yet among israelis according to a new poll i thought i saw. >> that's right, you did. i think just over half of israelis judged his speech at the u.n. to be pro israel and

for the president to be pro israel. that helps him amongst israelis. i think -- i haven't seen any poll evidence from the palestinian side or from arab nations generally, i think we can expect the flip side to that for obama's poll ratings in the arab muslim world to have taken a nosedive. >> i would imagine you are correct. john ray in tel aviv, always good to talk with you. thank you, sir. coming up, the chris christie waiting game. apparently it goes on. with republicans still pining for their 2012 idol, what are mitt romney and rick perry doing to build support in the polls? convince donors to go ahead and sign up. we'll talk to both campaigns next. another special election next week, republicans trying to get to president obama. we'll talk west virginia next. the president's schedule -- -i love this card. -with the bankamericard cash rewards credit card,

we earn more cash back for the things we buy most. it's 1% cash back everywhere, every time. 2% on groceries. 3% on gas. automatically. no hoops to jump through. that's 1% cash back on oscar. ...tony. oscar! 2% back on whatever she'll eat. 3% back on filling up this baby. [ male announcer ] now get 1-2-3 percent cash back. it's that simple. [ male announcer ] apply online or at a bank of america near you. we're talking 3% back on gas. why did you buy my husband a falcon? thanks for the falcon. i didn't buy anyone a falcon. sure, you did. you saved us a lot of money on auto insurance. i used that money to buy a falcon. ergo, you bought me a falcon. i should've got a falcon. most people who switch to state farm save on average about $480.

what they do with it, well, that's their business. oh, that explains a lot, actually. [ chuckles ] [ male announcer ] another reason people switch to state farm. aw, i could've gotten a falcon. [ male announcer ] get to a better state. [ falcon screeches ]

so rick perry and mitt romney are going toe to toe in their battle but the party's flirtation with governor chris christie underscores a troubling point for both campaigns. there are some republicans that apaerptly aren't satisfied with the current crop of candidates. ray sullivan and eric ferinstrom join us. austin and boston. ray sullivan, let me start with you and get your reaction to chris christie's apparent still

remaining flirtation with the campaign. >> governor christie is an impressive guy and impressive governor. we are in the arena, however. the governor's continuing to crisscross the country talking about jobs. we're spending a lot of time this week highlighting governor romney's long record of flip-flops, and we're continuing to build our campaign infrastructure, endorsements in new hampshire and iowa and across the board. of course fund-raising deadline rapidly approaching. >> ray, are you at all concerned, though, that this latest uptick in interest by big republican donors is a direct reaction to disappointment in governor perry's debate performances? >> not at all. we're continuing to ground -- to blow through this time, to continue to build our campaign and infrastructure. you're going to have strong points, strong weeks, weak weeks in a campaign. the key is to power through, to continue to build, to continue to talk about jobs and the economy, to continue to highlight the flip-flops from

governor romney in our case, and to build a strong, capable, positive campaign going forward. >> eric, let me ask you a similar question. all of this talk, it was a buildup to try to get rick perry in the race. he gets many. it is a buildup now to get chris christie in the race. why shouldn't this be seen as a rejection of sorts by a large chunk of republicans of mitt romney? >> well, look, with respect to chris christie, he is a fine fellow, a good governor. i can't predict what he's going to do, whether he gets in or stays out won't change the fact that mitt romney is the only major candidate in this race who's had a career in the private economy. and we think that private sector experience is essential to getting this country back on track. just electing another career politician isn't going to do the job. >> are you seeinging some -- are you concerned that fund raising

is is going to take a hit, for instance, this month? and eric, this is for you. because of this continued flirtation? do you worry, for instance, it's going to slow down momentum for the entire republican party? >> well, with respect to fundraising, you know, the governor's first quarter, first reporting period in the race, he raised $18 million. we're not going to do that for this second successive quarter. we expect to be outraised by rick perry. his finance team has been talking about 400 bundlers that they have on board. there was a report yesterday in a dallas newspaper that they raised $20 million in the first three days of his announcement. we expect he'll do very well. he's the governor of the second largest state in the union. he is the chairman of the republican nors association, he's got a good deal of fund-raising experience. we expect him to do very well. >> i always find it interesting. campaigns will praise the other side when it comes to

fund-raising expectations. ray sullivan, i want to move to immigration and give you a chance to react to something that chris christie said last night about immigration. here's what he said at the reagan library. >> ip every child who comes to new jersey to be educated. but i do not believe that for those people who came here illegally that we should be subsidizing with taxpayer money through in-state tuition. and let me be very clear from my perspective. that is not a heartless position. that is a commonsense position. >> the heartless comment in particular, it's what governor perry said you don't have a heart if you're against this. does governor perry -- does the campaign regret that remark? >> no. the fact of the matter is that the state of texas does not subsidize. every student in texas who is a resident for three years, who's graduated from a texas high school, and who is admitted to college can pay in-state tuition. this is a residency issue. these are t, students, kids who

have been here for a long time, and that's a decision the legislature made in 2001, ten years ago, with just four dissenting votes. when it comes to immigration, no one has been more vocal, no one has been more alarmist in terms of the federal government's failure to secure the border. we've seen the violence at our border. governor perry's put the texas rangers, hundreds of millions of dollars, he's called for national guard troops and border patrol agents to secure that border. the failure is that the federal government, when rick perry is president of the united states, that border will be secure. we know how to do it. we've worked to do that in texas. that will be a major priority. >> eric, when it comes to one of mitt romney's issues in this primary, it's been to win over rank-and-file conservatives who are skeptical of mitt romney. it's something governor perry

attempted to bring up last week, how conservative is mitt romney. how real that criticism? >> let's talk about the issue of illegal immigration, because i don't think there's a greater issue dividing rick perry from mitt romney. when mitt romney was governor, the democrats in his legislature is sent him a bill to provide in-state tuition to illegal immigrants. governor romney vetoed that bill. when that same bill was sent to rick perry, he signed it. what does that mean? what it means is is that an illegal immigrant -- and they have 16,000 of them now in the public college system of texas -- is able to attend the university of texas at a discount that's equal to $100,000 over four years of d -- >> there's no discount at all. kids in our state pay -- they are -- >> texas residents -- >> they are texas residents. they pay texas tuition. that is a decision the legislature has made. there is no subsidy. there's no discount. >> that's the problem. they're not residents.

ray, this is the problem. >> eric, they have been -- they have been living -- they have been living in the state -- >> not residents of the united states. >> they have been living in the state for years. it is a federal government failure. >> finish your point and i'll let ray respond. >> my point is this, and i think this is why rick perry has run into trouble with rank-and-file republican voters on this issue, they are not residents of the united states. they have illegally entered this country. one of the reasons they come is because of magnets like in-state tuition where they can get a $100,000 benefit over -- >> eric, what about the fact that they also agree that they are going to pursue legal residency status in exchange for this program as a way to sort of get them legally on the right track? >> ray, i know that rick perry and his entire team feel very strongly about these policies that in our view encourage illegal immigration. we think they act as a magnet to bring even more illegal

immigrants into this country. it was wrong for massachusetts. that's why governor romney vetoed that bill. it's quite puzzling as to why rick perry would have signed that same bill in texas. >> ray, let me ask you, then, that question that eric just posed. how is it not a magnet to encourage mexican immigrants to bring their children across the boarder? >> there is no encouragement. these are kids who have been in texas because the federal government has failed to secure the border. they have to go -- they are required nationally to be admitted to school, k through 12, and they are texas residents like every other texas resident because of that federal government failure. they are -- they get in-state -- they pay the same tuition rate as every other texas kid. there's no subsidy. there's no discount. there's no break. i would comment, also, that governor romney's tune has changed on this issue like so

many issues in the past, whether it was stimulus or race to the top or obama care. he was one of the big supporters of the kennedy immigration bill back in the '90s. this is a johnny-come-lately to this issue. we live border security every day in our state. we recognize the border must be secured. the federal government has failed. we have put our money where our mouth is in this state to secure the border, to send the rangers, to fight the violence there, and perry will do that when he's in the white house. >> eric, respond to this comment, though, about the fact this is a new position for governor romney. >> on in-state tuition, no, it's not. we received a bill to that effect. governor romney vetoed it. i would like to just elaborate a little bit. i have a 17-year-old son, he's a senior in high school, he lives in massachusetts with me, and he's currently looking at colleges. if he applies to and is accepted at the university of texas, the

cost of tuition for him is $32,000 a year. but an illegal immigrant from texas gets to pay a reduced rate of to $9,000. that's wrong. and this is what -- this is what has upset and frustrated many republicans and people outside our party. >> if your son -- >> that while we may say yes to legal immigration, we also have the rule of law in this country, and it has to be -- >> i'm going to have to leave it there, eric. you got the last word. ray, you had the first word. i'll reverse it the next time we have you on. austin and boston. >> thank you, chuck. we'll get a check on what's moving on wall street. and republicans pouring money into west virginia. will it pay off? as they try to turn the race into another referendum on

president obama. but first -- ♪ [ cellphone rings ] cut! [ monica ] i have a small part in a big movie.

i thought we'd be on location for 3 days, it's been 3 weeks. so, i used my citi simplicity card to pick up a few things. and i don't have to worry about a late fee. which is good... no! bigger! bigger! [ monica ] ...because i don't think we're going anywhere for a while. [ male announcer ] write your story with the new citi simplicity card. no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries. get started at citisimplicity.com.

new protest in greece today over that country's plan to raise taxes as part of a bailout deal. europe, europe, europe. >> europe, europe, europe. the good news, chuck, though, is actually the markets opening up higher today again on speculation that things are getting better in europe, but germany is going to be voting on this stability fund that they're trying to bring together, emergency stability fund, tomorrow. finland already voted on it and said yes. that's the good news.

the bad news is some people don't believe it's still big enough. the other thing people in the markets looking for today, and i know you're an ipad guy, i think, amazon, 10:00 a.m., in just about a half hour, announcing this new ipad competit competitor, so there's a lot of eyeballs on that issue. chuck? >> andrew ross sorkin, thank you very much. "the daily rundown" will be back in 30 seconds.

you know we're all about elections here. in six days west virginia holds a special election to decide who will finish the term of former governor joe mansion who left office after getting elected to the united states senate. a lot of attention from republicans, in particular, because they're running out of races to target a lit this will year, hoping maloney can beat the acting democratic governor earl ray tomblin. here they are. >> bill maloney, impressive resu resume. started your company in a dirt-floor building, became a world leader for mining and other industries, created over thousand jobs, not a career politician, job creator, impressive qualifications to become our governor. >> since becoming governor, he's helped bring new industries and create new jobs in west virginia. that's why business and labor endorse tomblin for governor. >> it's just the beginning. more work to be done. >> all right. west virginia governor, there's normally three races in this

period, louisiana, mississippi, kentucky, and all three are blowouts. the wo republicans ap peer to be holding on, but mississippi might get closer than people think and kentucky looks like democrats will hold, so west virginia, the special election. jennifer duffy, the democratic governor here doesn't use the "d" word very often in his ads, i've noticed. but he's got the support of everybody, labor and the chamber. >> you know, it's interesting that he has managed to get both, you know, traditional democratic groups like labor, the teachers, he gets the chamber of commerce and the manufacturers. it is interesting, and all said, it's based on his proven record. they know what he's going to do. he's been in politics for 40 years. he has done nothing controversial in the year he's been the acting governor, done things voters like, reduce the food tax, even touts a bill that makes it easier to get a job washing hair at a beauty salon.

so he's been not controversial, and he's done a little bit of something for everybody. >> and the republican playbook here seemed to be that they were going to try to figure out how to make barack obama's unpopularity in west virginia and frankly all nationalized democrats in west virginia use that unpopularity to hurt the democrat, but they've failed to pull this off. >> well -- >> so far. >> and they also had the kind of trust between a lifetime politician and a businessman. they thought -- but none of it -- i think the good news and the bad news for democrats is that this race is local, and the good news is they've been able, compared to what's going on in washington, what's going on in west virginia is actually pretty good. according to private polling the right direction, wrong track in the state is actually pretty good. if you ask how it's going in the country, it's terrible. but tomblin, because of this coalition, has been able to insulate himself from that national democratic label. >> jennifer, there was some

nervousness among some democrats who always viewed him as the most electable, that he was going to have a primary problem. >> you know, there was a pretty contentious democratic primary there, but tomblin, he ran the same campaign, he got none of those labor endorsements in the primary yet pulled out a 41% victory. he does sort of appeal across the party. >> and republicans, because they thought they were going to be able to target kentucky. and by the way, it is amazing that republicans -- they have their own problems, candidates that have shot themselves in the foot -- but not making much progress in kentucky governor, which says something about their candidate. >> i think kentucky democrats are likely to keep kentucky. i don't think republicans have given up on west virginia quite yet. you know, there's still a week to go. it's running out. there's no momentum in the race for either of them. but tomblin season at 50% but, you know, maloney needs to get

momentum quickly. >> because of the inability, for instance, kentucky, they've moved a whole bunch of resources they would have used in kentucky to west virginia. >> exactly. the national republicans have spent $1.8 million on so far, so they have invested heavily, it is their shot. the thing about this race, one, it's the only one on the ballot. it's in october. so these campaigns virtually -- >> going to be really low. >> going to be really low. but they're going to know who votes. one of the things maloney did prove in the republican primary, which was an eight-way race, was that he could get his voters to the polls. i think republicans are hoping that they can have a repeat of that and pull off this upset. i think it's tough. it's not impossible. >> nathan, the west virginia republican party has yet to figure out how to capture what is a republican state on federal elections, has it not? >> at the state level,

incumbency still matters and it's not been penalized in west virginia. >> they like pork, too, don't they. >> once they get into office, it's tough to dislodge them because there's some of that crossover, either money or voting support once they're there. >> six days. somebody will be voting somewhere. >> and they do it again in 2012. >> i was going to say, 13 months later. >> will maloney be the republican nominee? >> there will be a lot of other races we'll be tracking by then. always a pleasure. coming up, back to chris christie. he keeps saying no publicly. but then he does it like this. he hasn't shut the door completely on the 2012 bid. how long can he hold out? how long are republicans willing to wait? we'll see. first, the white house soup of the day. the president is back. a little better. tomato soup but we call it roasted red pepper and tomato. sounds fancier. capital one's new cash rewards card gives you a 50% annual bonus! so you earn 50% more cash.

according to research, everybody likes more cash. well, almost everybody... ♪ would you like 50% more cash? no! but it's more money. [ male announcer ] the new capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash. what's in your wallet? woah! [ giggles ] woah! having the right real estate agent on your side is more important than ever. at remax.com, you can find the experts you need, whether you're trying to sell of hoping to buy. nobody sells more real estate than re/max. visit remax.com today. ♪ [ multiple sounds making melodic tune ] ♪ [ male announcer ] at northrop grumman, every innovation, every solution,

comes together for a single purpose -- to make the world a safer place. that's the value of performance. northrop grumman. she's supporting breast cancer programs for her neighbour's tennis instructor's daughter's 1st grade teacher who's also her mom. help fund breast cancer programs in your community. redeem your lids today [ woman ] my heart medication isn't some political game.

[ man ] our retirement isn't a simple budget line item. [ man ] i worked hard. i paid into my medicare. [ man ] and i earned my social security. [ woman ] now, instead of cutting waste and loopholes, washington wants to cut our benefits? that wasn't the agreement. [ male announcer ] join the members of aarp and tell washington to stop cuts to our medicare and social security benefits.

well, chris christie is clearly not the first noncandidate who just can't seem to rule out a run for the presidency. remember the original hamlet on the hudson. in 1992, then new york governor mario cuomo famously left his plane on the tarmac and decided at the last minute not to run after months of waffling. >> they said you should think about it, and i said, okay, i'll think about it. i have no plans and i have no plans to make plans. the question is not complicated. getting to the answer is. and i'm doing it as fast as i can. >> see? now we know who chris christie has been listening to. even the new york tabloids had a field day with the cuomo saga calling him governor slo-mo. clarence page is a columnist for the "chicago tribune," beth a columnist for the "national journal" and liz for the associated press. particular fi for those tristate folks up there who are older than 40 years old, they sit

there and say, oh, my god, i've seen this exact story play itself out. >> exactly. >> not to i.d. you as the oldest guy sitting here. >> it's obvious. >> but anyway -- >> with age come wisdom. >> share with me the wisdom of watching christie and cuomo and feeling as if p it's deja vu all over again. >> it is. the only thing i can't do is tell you how to stop it. the fact is certain candidates who people really want to run are going to play this game. it's just attractive to christie. he doesn't want to rule it out entirely. however, he really doesn't want to run and i don't blame him because if the tea party doesn't like rick perry's politics, when will they get a load of the straight talk from chris christie? it's just incredible to me how people get to -- so attracted to bright and signny object of a new candidate. when that candidate falls short of perfection. remember, john mccain's straight talk, you know?

>> they run for the hills. >> yeah. >> beth, how much could really be this chris christie being polite, you don't want to dismiss these folks but you have to show them their due respect and say i technically have two more weeks if you look at the proe process, i'll give it two more weeks? >> certainly it's in his interest to keep these donors in his corner. but i don't know what favor he's doing them. it's another two weeks the party spends tossing and turning over the people that are actually in the race. >> liz, you and i were joking before. on the one hand he said no, on the other hand he actually never said no. he seemed to play a little bit. he's either playing the game or being polite or a little bit of both. >> it's exhausting for all of us here watching this. and i would argue that it's probably a little bit unfair to

the republican voters who are really ready to find a candidate. what i find interesting in all this is that you actually have, you know, the herman cain straw poll victory, you had all this buzz abchris christie, you had the really high hopes for rick perry and the debate, you know, voters saying i'm not so sure yet. i actually think this whole thing taken together says more about mitt romney than it does about anything else. >> that's been the point. ultimately, it's been about mitt romney. eric from earlier didn't want to deal with that question. we've been talking about this nine months and it's been a reaction. >> it's sort of embarrassing for rom rop. i w mitt romney. i was in florida last week. they're not pining for romney or sarah palin or for anyone else. they're looking at the choices in front of them. and i think this is a more a product of money, people who

want a sure thing, and that's what we don't have in 2012 for the republican party. we don't have a sure thing. >> it's also a product of the changing media environment where one story gets out there and the next thing you know all this tidbit journalism that's out there when it comes to politics, we latch onto the next big thing when there may not be anything there. >> the other reality check here is we've seen new candidates come and go, and they usually fall on their face. everyone who comes in late usually does fall on their face. bobby kennedy might be the only guy i can think of that didn't. >> especially with the republicans. they are -- they have a tradition for backing the candidate with the most seniority, the one who's run before, et cetera, which would mean mitt romney. i think the real embarrassment here should be that of the republican party, just like four years ago, democrats were wondering is america ready for a black president, a mormon president, are republicans ready for a mormon. the republican base is known to

be distrustful of mitt romney as a mormon at best. that's the kind of thing people dwoe don't want to talk about but it's out there. >> liz, anita perry is suddenly doing a lot of campaign events, which is different. she didn't do that a lot when rick perry ran for governor. she's been in iowa this morning doing some events, clarifying the immigration position in a way that i thought, well, if rick perry said this on stage it might have gotten a little bit better. but he's saying he's not a good debater but he'll be better next time, i promise. >> the biggest candidate for a candidate is their spouse. we've seen this with a.m. romney and what she's doing to humanize mitt romney. but, you know, what i find interesting in all of this, and i raise this question, when was the last time that a candidate who was drafted into the race, not a candidate who actually wanted, like, said, i want to be president -- and i don't know the answer, but when was the last time one of those was successful in that raised the question about chris christie and rick perry.

>> but the difference, beth, and i think that what christie's hesitancy is, he does have ambition to be president. it's just this wasn't his time line. >> right. and, you know, the case we're making for him, if not now, it's only to get more complicated in 2016 with people like jeb bush, marco rubio, who knows who else. >> clarence page, beth rhinehart, liz sodit, stick around. we'll talk about the president. what song does chris christie play to get psyched up for press conferences? "prove it all night" by bruce springsteen. he goes a little "b" side sometimes. the boss. [ male announcer ] tom's discovering that living healthy can be fun. see? he's taking his vitamins. new one a day vitacraves plus omega-3 dha is a complete multivitamin for adults. plus an excellent source of omega-3 dha in a great tasting gummy.

one a day, gummies for grown-ups. and here's what we did today: supported nearly 3 million steady jobs across our country... ... scientists, technicians, engineers, machinists... ... adding nearly 400 billion dollars to our economy... we're at work providing power to almost a quarter of our homes and businesses... ... and giving us cleaner rides to work and school... and tomorrow, we could do even more. cleaner, domestic, abundant and creating jobs now. we're america's natural gas. the smarter power, today. learn more at anga.us. you'd do that for me? really? yeah, i'd like that. who are you talking to? uh, it's jake from state farm. sounds like a really good deal. jake from state farm at three in the morning. who is this? it's jake from state farm. what are you wearing, jake from state farm? [ jake ] uh... khakis. she sounds hideous. well she's a guy, so... [ male announcer ] another reason more people stay with state farm. get to a better state.

♪ (announcer) everything you need to stretch out on long trips. residence inn.

let's bring back the panel.

all right. there is an incouple bept president running for re-election and of all the states that the president won re-election, i think a lower approval rating than indiana. here's what he said about the state of fund raising for the president. >> raising money is hard. right now. for -- in this economy and we -- and obviously, because the president's been spending the great time this summer dealing with the debt crisis, we had to cancel a bunch of events. we'll hit the quarterly targets but, you know, it is hard. >> the fund raising number, though, meshes with another word you hear about inside the base. enthusiasm or lack thereof. >> right. that's a problem and out there on the road right now at top volume really repackaging what he proposed earlier that failed on capitol hill and repackaging

it as a jobs bill with a good chan chant that rhymes with "yes we can." and new hampshire is a great test for that because it's a more conservative-leaning state. >> with a populous ring to it looking for a little more sympathetic coming to the government. beth, it does seem -- what's the next tact here for president obama? clear republicans decided to throw up a wall and not deal with this thing at all. they've moved the goal post on that. what's that do? >> right. it looks like what he's trying to do is say this is what i'm for and then if they don't pass it they're not for jobs so he is trying to be proactive about it instead of being on the defensive as he's been with republicans saying he's not done enough on the economy. >> liz, him going up, david axelrod, part of it is politics but part of it is new hampshire is a canary in the coal mine for

them little bit because of the huge influgs of republican voters. >> you have seen the president try to appease the base more and independent voters and so, you know, to me, ax going up there is a bit of a sign, you know, we're also still worried about the independents. we haven't written the independents off. the liberals and the base furious with obama. and yet, they all kind of pulled back and are kind of holding him after his speech last week, and what this tells me is that, you know, they have to solidify the base but they're not going to abandon the independents. they recognize at the end of the day, tight election, this is a 50-50 election. a tight election. doesn't matter who the gop nominee is short of sarah palin it won't be a 50-50 election and independents as you know are the critical people and, you know, the liberals will come home. >> playing my song. shameless plugs? >> herman cain leading the zogby

poll among candidates because that's the closest he'll get to the white house. >> well. zogby poll. go ahead. >> i'll plug my colleague's new blog. >> i like it, i like it. i do. i like his reporting on the lobby. >> we have a team of triathletes to raise money and the poconos half ironman this weekend. >> how about that? mark kirk, senator, give a shout out for ironman. he said running for president is like doing the ironman. >> i saw it. >> year 5772. that's celebrating a new year tonight. that's it for the show. tonight, philadelphia mayor nutter will join us. up next, "chris jansing & company." see you later.